United States of America
The United States of America, also known as the United States '''or simply the '''US '''or '''USA, is a constitutional representative-democratic republic occupying a substantial portion of the continent of North America and Antarctica, on Earth. It is composed of 55 semi-autonomous states under a federal government. It is the primary country in which the United Liberators Coalition, its dedicated domestic supernatural law enforcement and research agency, operates. The USA is a member of the United Nations but is not a signatory of the 1991 Type-III Regulatory Treaty. History Founding in the 18th century The United States of America was founded in 1776, and fought a war of independence to break away from the British Empire, which ultimately succeeded and allowed the thirteen colonies become sovereign states that ultimately formed their own unified federal government. In its early history, United States practiced slavery, importing slaves from Africa, as well as Anthro-feralis and Dwarf slaves, though interestingly compartively few Elves, who were regarded as unfit for labor but found niches as manservants. Anthro-feralis and African slaves were preferred, as the humanoid and white-skinned Elves and Dwarves were a little too close to home for many white slave owners. Dwarf slaves were purchased from Dwarven countries, who were never threatened by American or European colonizes, but simply sold their prisoners and criminals to the Americans for monetary gain. As the United States spread its territory and organized more states, American settlers displaced and eradicated many native populations in their expansion to the western coast of the continent. 19th Century With the British Empire outlawing the slave trade in 1807, the United States no longer imported slaves, though interstate trades continued. In this point in history, most other advanced countries had already outlawed slavery, which was steadily growing to be a point of contention in the United States as tensions between its Northern and Southern states rose to an all time high. The United States experienced a civil war in 1852, where the issue of slavery and 'states' rights' polarized the country, splitting the union. The rebel government, the Confederacy, was defeated shortly after and the country remained whole, though not without casualties and consequences. The first American member of the Lang family, having immigrated to the United States, fought in the Civil War. Resurgence of Wizardkind The Industrial Revolution resulted in a tremendous technological and magical growth, meaning that wizards and witches were now a serious matter to be considered in everyday society and government. Due to the sudden availability of magical powers due to manufacturing, Red Matter refinement, and wand production that was never available before, wizards expanded greatly in numbers. This is known as the Resurgence of Wizardkind and is considered a comeback of the magical community, and their subsequent integration into mainstream culture and society would have profound impacts going forward. 20th Century In response to this massive boom of Rm-using magical individuals, the US Department of Magical Affairs was established in 1901, incorporating many elements of the previous secretive wizarding government and employing many of its former officials. In 1917, the United States joined the First World War, and helped turned the tide against the Central Powers. Due to their late arrival and the conclusion of the war shortly after, the Americans sustained relatively minor casualties compared to the other powers. In 1929, the United States entered the Great Depression, which saw its economy and gross domestic product, as well as the wealth and standard of living of its citizens plummet to record low levels. The United States eventually recovered along with the world around it, and watched as the National Socialist regime rose in Germany. It at first remained officially neutral when the Second World War broke out in 1939. World War II In December 1941, Pearl Harbor, a US military installation, was attacked, resulting in the United States joining the war on the side of the Allies. Japan had made a critical blunder; in attacking the Untied States, it awakened the nation's wizarding populace, which unlike many other countries, had barely suffered a dent in the First World War and was enormous by comparison. Massive numbers of patriotic wizards itching for blood and volunteering to fight surged equally massive amounts of magical energy into the Allied war effort. Red Matter powered technology and spells, and by extension wizards, were used in appreciably large numbers for the first time, with several research and development projects fielded by the United States Armed Forces to utilize the combination of magic and technology to create weapons that would give the Allies a decisive advantage or potentially turn the tide of the war. Much of this research and development was done near the Rockies in Wyoming, in the city of Union Falls which was notable for having some of the highest populations of wizards in the country. This surge of magical research beginning change of magic's role in society from being a supplmentary novelty to a serious, integral institution became known as the beginning of the Platinum Age. Though the use of magic gained substantial ground early after the entry of the United States into the war, the Axis soon realized the potential of their own vast magical resources and began to mobilize them with the intention of creating their own magi-tek and superweapons, with the exception of Japan which had already had an appreciable magitek based war machine and Japanese wizards who had secured vast swathes of China and Southeast Asia for their Empire. For a time this resulted in both military alliances cancelling each other on the battlefield. However despite this, Germany's Rm reserves depleted near the end stages of the war, hastening their defeat when Allied magitek devastated their last line of defenses, with no magical weapons of their own to counterattack.The war was ultimately ended when the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and one nuclear Rm-enhanced bombs on Tokyo and Nagasaki. [[Cold War|'Cold War']]' and Civil Rights' Starting from the 1950s, Red Matter enhanced nuclear weaponry became a staple during the Cold War, during which both the USA and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics both concentrated efforts into nuclear and Rm research, in an arms race of both magitek and traditional science in addition to fighting proxy wars. In the mid-1960s, the American Civil Rights Movement ended segregation and brought about changes to ensure equality for African Americans and Anthro-feralis, as well as other humanoids. The US Anthro-feralis Registration Directorate was reformed in the aftermath of the movement in order to become more politically correct and to right the injustices committed by its predecessor, the House Committee for the Purity of American Citizenry which had persecuted non-Humans in the past. In the 1970s, the United States developed Hydra-II Rm-Enhanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles among other experimental nuclear and strategic technologies. Awakening Incident In 1985, the Type-III Awakening Incident occurred, resulting in chaos and destabilization of many cities and regions throughout the United States due to the sudden manifestation of powered individuals who could manipulate reality without the use of Rm. These individuals were for the most part a non-threat, but enough wreaked havoc on the general populace and committed terrorism of such magnitude that domestically, the Department of Homeland Security was formed in the early 1990s, overseeing the United Liberators Coalition in order to protect citizens from and to understand supernatural threats. 1989 saw the US launch the first magically-powered ACS-1 Citadel-class Aerial Battleship. Shortly afterwards, the United States was one of the countries to abstain from signing the 1991 Type-III Regulatory Treaty, due to ethical concerns regarding the treatment of parahumans, which it deemed excessively restrictive, its controversial doctrine of 'stability above all else' that allowed warlords to remain in place, and because it had its own national counterpart to the proposed Advanced Extranormal Containment and Investigation Force. In addition, the Americans began using their own term for Type-III individuals, 'metahumans' as opposed to the AECIF's 'parahuman' nomenclature. Reconstruction Era In the aftermath of the crisis, much of the United States' infrastructure had to be rebuilt. Being assisted by other foreign countries, and assisting other countries in their own rebuilding methods as well, the USA required better communication and decided to standardize its measurement systems to metric, switching over from the Imperial system. Under President Barry Wallace, the first President of the post-Awakening Era, the US Congress passed a special Territories Act transforming all remaining incorporated United States territories, including part of the Antarctica territory, into individual states, increasing the number of states within the Union to 56, which also required a flag redesign. Washington D.C. was also granted a degree of autonomy, but not full statehood. In the years after the Awakening, the United States withdrew from NATO following the organization's decline and eventual fragmentation due to warming American relations with the Soviet Union and the USSR's normalization of relations with other European powers. Early 2000s In the early 2000s, ambitious reconstruction projects, many of them federally funded, led to plentiful work and a rapidly recovering economy. Such projects included a technologically upgraded national highway system, a national high speed rail network (with maglev trains reaching settlements as far as Bozeman, Montana), and infrastructure reform projects in all major cities. However during this period, both Federal and state governments were criticized for abusing the concept of eminent domain. Further laws passed by Congress enforced metric system usage and promoted electric vehicles while taxing gasoline to incentivize a switch to more modern standards. Several dozen nuclear plants were also opened, many with fusion reactor cores to address the nation's quickly regrowing energy demands. In 2004, a series of small-scale attacks against locations associated with Anthro-feralis hate groups was linked to an Anthro-feralis extremist organization known as CLAW, and are commonly referred to as the Fang Attacks. These attacks were severe and led to significant loss of life and spread terror, causing many American citizens and government officials to become fearful of Anthro-feralis in general. This would lead to negative repercussions later on in 2013. By the early 2010s, the United States was considered by international standards to have fully recovered from the Awakening, though some of its outer Pacific states (otherwise known as the former Pacific territories) did not fully meet the standard the rest of the nation had. In 2013, the US, under President Michael Rivers, passed the Anti-Anthro Act to limit numbers of Anthro-feralis attempting to immigrate to America and gain citizenship. Anthro immigrants who have already settled into the United States and gained permanent residency are unaffected and are allowed to stay and become full citizens, but no further non-humanoid immigration into the country is permitted. In 2018, President Oskel Pebblepike attempted to expand the Anti-Anthro Act to ban Anthro-feralis immigration from countries globally, but his Executive Order was revoked by the US Supreme Court on the grounds of being unconstitutional. In the early 2020s, the United States federally decriminalized marijuana, making it legal throughout all of the states in the Union for recreational use. 2029 On New Years Eve at the immediate beginning of 2029, the Voltage Incident in Union Falls struck alarm into the American public; the ULC had lost an entire chapter in the effort to repel the metahuman's rampage, and rumors quickly spread that the Coalition had seriously considered deploying a nuclear warhead to neutralize the city before Voltage was able to spread his influence beyond it. Thankfully the crisis was resolved, but uncertainty about the future of Union Falls and the effectiveness of fighting metas on American soil continued to linger long after. Korean War In the beginning of 2029, tensions rose between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, regarding the latter's proliferation of nuclear weapons and rumors of a violent and Humanoid rights abusing program to create metahuman supersoldiers. The ULC and AECIF were stationed in the North Korean peninsular region for a time to investigate possible supernatural activity that violated the 1991 Type-III Regulatory Treaty, but the ULC forces were recalled in late March amidst worsening tensions. In early March 2029, the US Olympic team at the 2028 Olympics was revealed to have had a wizard as a competitor, and was accused of cheating. This was a catalyst for intensified hatred of the US by North Korean leadership, and in late March 2029, the United States withdrew all ULC assets in the area, believing that war was inevitable. In May of 2029, the tensions between the United States and North Korea broke out into complete war. For nearly a month, American and Soviet military troops fought against North Korean forces on the peninsula, seeing the first full scale use of powered armor on the battlefield brought in by US forces, and the first direct battlefield engagement between metahumans and ''Citadel''-class aerial battleships since the original Awakening incident. The fighting was brief, but exceptionally intense and destructive, with losses of great significance in just the opening days, followed by severe casualties as the conflict went on.The mass deployment of American powered armor infantry proved to be highly effective as well for ground based assaults. Due to China's veto vote stopping the AECIF from deploying to assist in the short-lived war, the United States suffered great losses in personnel, while their Soviet allies suffered several materiel losses, with numerous Il-104s being downed in the conflict. This strained the relationship of the two superpowers with their Chinese counterpart greatly. In the aftermath, China agreed to respect the new unified Korean government and South Korea's annexation of its former counterpart, and was willing to render aid on the condition that the US withdraw 'heavy assets' from the region. An agreement was reached at a summit in August 2029, and US forces started to depart by September. The Chinese had lost their buffer state, and the Korean peninsula was reunited under a democratic government, at the cost of a deteriorating relationship with the People's Republic of China. CLAW Unmasked Directly following the Korean conflict, the United States military and its United Liberators Coalition found itself embroiled in the conspiracy of the ULC-CLAW War, with the revelation of high ranking ULC agent Lucius Mallory being a CLAW operative, and his subsequent hijacking attempt of the [[ULCS Golden Eagle|ULCS Golden Eagle.]] This incident would only further fuel controversy and shape the Whitmore Administration, and by extension, America's role in the international fight against CLAW. The infiltration of the ULC showed several flaws within the organization's security, and further emphasized the threat that the terrorist organization posed to the international community, with Liberators-830B narrowly foiling their attempt to acquire a powerful Citadel-class battleship. US President Marcus Whitmore and Soviet Presidium Chairwoman Rosa Milkhailnova cooperated extensively, planning to issue a denouncement of the Xanjeran government for its inadequate response to CLAW's incursions. With the capture of Mallory, who was the highest ranking CLAW operative in North America, along with CLAW's sensitive data, authorities were able to obtain a list of all CLAW agents under his command. Following the conclusion ULC-CLAW War, US military forces along with federal agencies like the CIA and FBI and the ULC itself drove the remaining CLAW operatives out of the United States, with some fleeing to Canada and being caught by Canadian authorities working in tandem with the Americans, while those who fled to Mexico were more successful in quietly slipping away. Thus, CLAW's operations in North America came to an effective end, but the terrorist organization only grew stronger outside the States. Despite this, the efforts of Liberators-830B, a chapter with a high representation of Anthro members, were hailed as heroes, and did much to combat the public sentiment of fear against Anthros, which would later result in a significant social movement to protect their rights down the line. Late 2029 The Coalition undertook numerous international missions in September as a result of increased relations and joint operations with the Soviet Union. With Liberators-995 occupied with an incident assisting the Soviets near Alaska, the newly created Liberators-830N was deployed and rescued Canadian nationals from a North Atlantic Sea Dragon terrorizing their fishing trawler, managing to save the survivors while at the same time doing little harm to the endangered dragon and its offspring (the creature had attacked the trawler for disrupting its nest). This incident further improved relations with Canada and the Soviet Union, the latter of which was satisfied with both L-995 and L-830N's actions during the crisis. American forces, led by the Coalition, destroyed several CLAW installations in Africa in a highly successful offensive sweep in December of that year, which sent the terrorist movement reeling and landed a considerable blow to their ranks. 2030 [[Attempted assassination of President Whitmore|'Attempted assassination of']]' President Whitmore' Langford cognitohazard attacks Energy crisis Locations and Features The United States has a population of 399 million Americans and hundreds of cities within its borders. The largest cities are heavily concentrated on its coasts and near large bodies of water, though there are some exceptions exist, such was Union Falls City within the Rocky Mountains. Mid-size cities such as Bozeman, Montana, with a population of around 80,000 are often found near these areas, while smaller cities, towns and villages are often located further inland and are much more difficult to access via the national high speed railway or highway systems. The United States has 55 states and numerous holdings globally, the most recent and notorious state being their annexed section of Antarctica. The United States is one of the largest modern 'empires', the other being the British Commonwealth, which similarly was expansionist in its history and is an international rival. The National Anthem of the United States is 'From Sea to Shining Sea', based on America the Beautiful, chosen and written following the Awakening Incident to celebrate the nation's recovery in the aftermath of the Awakening and how it continued to thrive afterwards. The Pledge of Allegiance also changed, being modified to: "I pledge allegiance, to the Flag, of the United States of America. To the Republic, our bastion of freedom that it flies over, as the symbol of Liberty and Justice for all that reside within." Its capital is Washington D.C, which is an autonomous city-state that functions as the nation's seat of government and houses most of its governmental administrations. Locations Special Autonomous Region * Washington D.C. (capital) States (including national landmarks and notable locations) * American Samoa * California ** San Francisco *** Phoenix Complex - United Liberators Coalition Headquarters *** United Liberators Operations Academy * Hawaii * Maine ** Portland * Maryland ** Silver Spring * Montana ** Bozeman ** Mary's Bell * New York ** New York City *** United Nations Headquarters *** Millennium Tower * Nevada ** Area 51 * Pennsylvania ** Pittsburgh *** Trigon Base * Washington (state) ** Seattle *** Space Needle II ** Bellevue *** Atlas Technologies Main Campus * West Viriginia ** Fairfield * Wyoming ** Union Falls Category:Countries Category:United States Category:United States Organizations